Now that the prayer synchroblog is history, I thought I would reflect on what I learned form reading the articles from the various participants. Of course my reflections will be shaded by my perspective and circumstances and they also will be generalizations. Here goes…

Frustration
There was often a sense of frustration expressed that grew out of trying to live up to the expectations of what it meant to be a good “prayer warrior.” Most people felt like failures when they compared their prayer life to these expectations. As I commented in my post, the expectations wore me out and caused me to burnout on prayer as I knew it. For people to just admit this was cause for relief.

Freedom
That sense of frustration led, at least to some degree, to an abandonment of the various formulas and models they were taught about how to pray. The door was then opened to new ways of communicating with God, hearing Him, and experiencing Him. Here is where I found the participants to be a huge blessin’ (as we used to say back in the days of Baptist roots.) The breath and scope of the ideas and experiences were amazing. It makes sense that God would have lots of different ways to revel himself and ways for us to converse with him and experience him.

Struggle
Nobody had things all figured out. Most felt like they were still missing something. There is much that is yet not understood. We could make a list: why God wants us to pray, why He doesn’t always answer prayer (in the way we think He should,) why He seems so distant at times and so near at others. Prayer, like our relationship with him is ragged, uneven, and has its ups and downs. It’s an exploration. It grows and changes.

The best thing to come of this: a sigh of relief from people admitting their failure (or refusal) to live up to the expectations of prayer as they knew it and the breath of fresh air that blew in with permission to open the doors up wide to experiencing God.

Thank you Lyn, Erin Cindy and all of the participants!

Here is an updated list of the participants.
Alan Knox – The Assembling of the Church – Pray without Ceasing
Alex – Deconstructed Christian – Prayer Synchroblog II
Andy – A Mile From the Beach – How Do I Pray
Barb – A Former Leader’s Journey – Prayer Without Throwing Things
Barbara Legere – Prodigal Daughter – How to Not Pray
Barry Taylor – Honest Faith – Synchroblog: How Do You Pray?
Brother Maynard – Subversive Influence – Fear Not the Silence
Che Vachon – ThisStream – My Thoughts…
Cindy Bryan – Run With It – Teach Me to Pray…Again?
Cynthia Clack – A Life Profound – How Do I Pray
Deb – Another Unfinished Symphony – Prayer Synchroblog
Doug Jones – Perigrinatio - How I Pray
Erin Word – Decompressing Faith – Prayer=Sex with God
Glenn Hagar – Re-Dreaming the Dream – Prayer Phases
Grace – Emerging Grace – Clearance Sale on Intercession Books
Heather – Deconstructed Christian – Synchroblog Prayer
Jim Lehmer – Lord I Believe, Please Help My Unbelief – Synchroblog: How Do You Pray?
John Smulo – SmuloSpace – Praying Naturally
Jon Hallewell – Life-Shaped Faith - When I’m Spoken To
Jon Peres – Something Else – How Do I Pray?
Jonathan Brink – Missio Dei – Posture: Sitting With My Daddy
Joy – My Emerging Faith – Synchroblog: Prayer
Julie Clawson – One Hand Clapping – Prayer Synchroblog
Larry – Last Exit Before Oblivion – Prayer is Weird
Lew A - The Pursuit – How Do You Pray? Synchroblog
Lydia – The Nunnery – How Do You Pray
Lyn Hallewell – Beyond the 4 Walls – God, Prayer and Me
Makeesha Fisher – Swinging from the Vine – The Mystery of Prayer
Mary – One Thing is Needed – How Do I Pray?
Nate Peres – Defined – How Do I Pray?
Pam Hogeweide – How God Messed up my Religion – The Art of Blue Tape Spirituality
Patti Blount – Here Comes the Groom – How Do I Pray
Paul Mayers – One for the Road – Praying and Learning to Pray Again
Paul Walker – Out of the Cocoon – One Congregation Experiments with Emerging Prayer
Rachel Warwick – Not Where Next but Where Now – How Do You Pray?
Rhonda Mitchell – Rhonda’s Blog – Prayer SynchroBlog
Rick Meigs – The Blind Beggar – Prayer Helps that Get Me Deeper
Rick Stilwell – Mmm…That’s Good Coffee – Push
Rob McAlpine – RobbyMac – Synchro-Prayer
Sonja Andrews – Calacirian – The Appearance of Holiness
Susan Barnes – A Booklook – Synchroblog: How Do You Pray?

Sorted by Blog Title

A Booklook – Susan Barnes – Synchroblog: How Do You Pray?
A Former Leader’s Journey – Barb – Prayer Without Throwing Things
A Life Profound – Cynthia Clack – How Do I Pray
A Mile From the Beach – Andy – How Do I Pray
Another Unfinished Symphony – Deb – Prayer Synchroblog
Beyond the 4 Walls – Lyn Hallewell – God, Prayer and Me
Calacirian – Sonja Andrews – The Appearance of Holiness
Decompressing Faith – Erin Word – Prayer=Sex with God
Deconstructed Christian – Alex – Prayer Synchroblog II
Deconstructed Christian – Heather – Synchroblog Prayer
Defined – Nate Peres – How Do I Pray?
Emerging Grace – Grace – Clearance Sale on Intercession Books
Here Comes the Groom – Patti Blount – How Do I Pray
Honest Faith – Barry Taylor – Synchroblog: How Do You Pray?
How God Messed up my Religion – Pam Hogeweide – The Art of Blue Tape Spirituality
Last Exit Before Oblivion – Larry – Prayer is Weird
Life-Shaped Faith – Jon Hallewell – When I’m Spoken To
Lord I Believe, Please Help My Unbelief – Jim Lehmer – Synchroblog: How Do You Pray?
Missio Dei – Jonathan Brink – Posture: Sitting With My Daddy
Mmm…That’s Good Coffee – Rick Stilwell – Push
My Emerging Faith – Joy – Synchroblog: Prayer
Not Where Next but Where Now – Rachel Warwick – How Do You Pray?
One for the Road – Paul Mayers – Praying and Learning to Pray Again
One Hand Clapping – Julie Clawson – Prayer Synchroblog
One Thing is Needed - Mary – How Do I Pray?
Out of the Cocoon – Paul Walker – One Congregation Experimets with Emerging Prayer
Perigrinatio – Doug Jones – How I Pray
Prodigal Daughter – Barbara Legere – How to Not Pray
Re-Dreaming the Dream – Glenn Hagar – Prayer Phases
Rhonda’s Blog – Rhonda Mitchell – Prayer SynchroBlog
RobbyMac – Rob McAlpine – Synchro-Prayer
Run With It – Cindy Bryan – Teach Me to Pray…Again?
SmuloSpace – John Smulo – Praying Naturally
Something Else – Jon Peres – How Do I Pray?
Subversive Influence – Brother Maynard – Fear Not the Silence
Swinging from the Vine – Makeesha Fisher – The Mystery of Prayer
The Assembling of the Church – Alan Knox – Pray without Ceasing
The Blind Beggar – Rick Meigs – Prayer Helps that Get Me Deeper
The Nunnery – Lydia – How Do You Pray
The Pursuit – Lew A – How Do You Pray? Synchroblog
ThisStream – Che Vachon – My Thoughts…